EDITOR'S CHOICE NORTH YORKSHIRE Compliments of the season for landlady CLEVELAND Gift of farm to RSPCA was out of character COUNTY DURHAM Old-style logging on is tough GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 No snow? No problem for skier 2 School fights back after inspection criticism 3 Compliments of the season for landlady 4 Dale school head selected for top education role 5 Bin collection problems leave woman, 76, in tears 6 Gift of farm to RSPCA was out of character 7 Great Ayton keen to take advantage of absentees 8 Two out of three ain’t bad for Barton’s race ace Lawson 9 Drink-drive campaign to target shoppers 10 Offenders research two hundred years of jail history Today | 7 Days 1 Gift of farm to RSPCA was out of character 2 Winds of change 3 Badly woven 4 'Buy new caravan or leave' say new site owners

Comment

NOT since the war years has vegetable growing been so popular, as gardeners turn to producing more of their own food for better flavour and better health.

Sales of vegetable seeds continue to outstrip those of flowers. Last year, there was a seven per cent increase in the sales of vegetable seeds, according to the Horticultural Trades Association, which represents the UK garden industry.

This year looks like having a similar outcome, according to some of the big seed companies.

"Once again the early indications are that vegetable seeds sales will outperform flowers," says Catherine Matthews, product manager at Unwins. "The popular varieties are fairly conventional vegetables, indicating that the Jamie Oliver effect is continuing and people are growing their own food for both the improved taste and health benefits."

Francijn Suermondt, marketing co-ordinator for Suttons, says that in some regions, Suttons seed sales ratios are 70 per cent vegetables to 30 per cent flowers, while Dobies mail order sales ratios so far for 2008 are 74 per cent veg to 26 per cent flowers. "Seed packets are now featuring recipe cards, while speedy season veg give quick results, and this is all influencing sales as well," she says.

Anyone visiting garden centres for inspiration will find acres of seed packets promising wonderful harvests of succulent veg - but which do you choose? New varieties come on to the market every year, but are they any better than tried and tested types?

Results of trials of new vegetables, revealed in the latest issue of Gardeners' Which? the Consumers' Association magazine, show the best of the bunch. Samples of more than 30 new varieties were trialled last year before they were available to buy.

The best performers included courgette Tristan (Thompson & Morgan), which produced large, vigorous plants and a heavy crop of typical dark green tasty fruits, and radish Amethyst (Dobies, Marshalls, Mr Fothergill's), a new purple type, best picked small, with a dark red skin which will add fantastic colour to your salad bowl.

Other winners in the test included the large-fruited tomato Country Taste (Thompson & Morgan), which produced huge, smooth fruits weighing up to 500g, and the cherry tomatoes Piccolo (Dobies - plants; The Organic Gardening Catalogue; Suttons - plants) and Apero (Dobies - seeds and plants; Suttons - plants), which cropped from August to September in the greenhouse.

Both had tougher skins than supermarket cherry tomatoes, but made up for this with intense sweet and sharp flavour.

Carrot Tendersnax (Thompson & Morgan), a new, early, sweet carrot, proved a winner with nearly 600 triallists. From an April sowing, most harvested from mid-July to mid-August, averaging about 2kg from a 2m row. Some 80 per cent of triallists rated the flavour good or very good.

Lettuce Marshall (Marshalls, Suttons) was a beautiful, decorative lettuce, great when paired with another new variety, Ashbrook (Unwins). The red leaves turned deep purple, almost black when mature, but they bolted rapidly.

The taste was good, with just a hint of bitterness, and kept well in the fridge, and was considered worth growing as cut-and-comeagain or baby leaf salad.

Gardening Which? is a subscription- only magazine. For details on how to receive three issues for £3, tel 01992-822800 or visit which.co.uk Jobs this week ❃ Plant stored dahlia tubers in pots of potting compost in a frostfree greenhouse.

❃ Sow radishes and thin them when they are big enough to handle.

❃ Pot up lily bulbs now for a summer show, but keep them in a frost-free greenhouse at first.

1:57pm Friday 7th March 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login